HAPPIEST BABY: A Snoo Review by a Twin Mama

When you find out you're pregnant, there's this entire universe of things, gadgets, products that you likely never looked at before. First, there's excitement, this is going to be fun. I'll go to the store, I'll head online, I'll ask my friends, I'll fill up my baby registry. And then the excitement shifts to waves of confusion and just generally feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the myriad of things you're all of a sudden going to need and the maddening number of options for every category. Reading reviews on best carriers, strollers, co-sleepers, mobiles, sound machines and it just never seems to end. Now multiply that feeling by 2 when you're having twins. What do I need 2 of? What can I get just one of, and have them share? And for anyone who was expecting from any time in March of 2020, a global pandemic also reared its head.

So as a first-time mum, my initial excitement ended up being just me staring at a computer trying to figure out why I kept getting conflicting advice on every single thing. Get this. No get that. No this works. No that sucks. And then came the Snoo.

It was definitely Love at first sight. Let's just get that straight, I saw it and I knew I wanted it. Before I even knew what it was supposed to do. And then I found out- this was the crème de la crème, the holy grail for new parents, the electronic night nurse that would allow mom and dad to catch some sleep. And just like that, I wanted it even more. And then I saw the price tag, and I paused. So now, I needed to be absolutely sure. I dug a little deeper. There were so many rave reviews and parents who swore by it. I had 2 girlfriends who raved and raved. And then I met the other side of the coin. Mothers saying it did nothing for them, those who thought it was overhyped and overpriced.

I did the math and I told the hubby, yes this was a splurge, but we could rent it, or we could buy and resell. But we needed to get it somehow because we had two babies, which means twice as likely to end up with a crying baby at night and neither of us is designed for staying up at night. As luck would have it, we didn't have to rent or buy it, my management worked it out, so I got 2 sparkly Snoos for the twins.

So what happened? The only thing we had unpacked when we brought the babies home from the hospital was a single crib in their nursery and their Snoos in our bedroom. The first couple of nights, we were too excited, too nervous, too cautious to put them down. I think we just held them and held them and held them. At some point around Night 3, we flipped the switch and we put them down.

One of the boys immediately took to it. As evidenced by stats on the app, he slept 7.5 hours straight. So much so, we checked on him multiple times to make sure he was breathing. His twin brother, woke up a few times and was rocked back to sleep by the Snoo. We realized he didn't like being overly tight in the Snoo snack, he didn't mind being swaddled, but it had to be just right. The gentle whooshing sound was soothing, the rocking was perfect- that was until he became inconsolable and the rocking sped up. I was initially startled by how intense the rocking was, even though I had read some mom on forums say they had used the motion limiter to keep the motion to level 2. I immediately did that as well and that worked wonders.

The twins are now 9 months, so they ended their Snoo journey about 3 months ago. It's crazy how fast those 6 months went. We were definitely getting more sleep than we expected. When folks said we're so sorry you're not sleeping, I didn't see the need to correct them and tell them that while we had a few late-night wake-ups, for the most part, the boys were sleeping so well in their Snoos. My biggest fear was transitioning them out, so we started weaning them off the Snoo by putting them in their crib for afternoon naps and such around the 4.5-month mark. Apparently, we probably didn't even need to do that.

What I loved: More than anything, what I really loved was the sleep data on the twins. I could see how long they slept, and how well they slept. We could see patterns and establish a schedule around that. We knew when they needed feedings and how soon after feedings that they would go back to sleep. So much in the early months is getting to know your babies and that was really helpful.

What I didn't care for: The snoo sheets and sacks and all the accessories you need are great but can get pricey. I appreciate it's a premium product, but new parents have so many things they have to get that it can be a lot.

Would I recommend this if I had paid for it? Yes, because I would have sold it after my successful run. Since I didn't pay for it, I thought it best to pay it forward, so 2 of my girlfriends who are expecting babies, now have the Snoos in their rooms and I really hope that they have a similar experience like I did. Especially early on, you need all the help you can get, and sometimes it's a magical bassinet that helps your baby go to and stay asleep.

Let me know in the comments if you have any specific questions about the Snoo.